


Come Rest Your Weary Head

by KBBearen (KDRBear)



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Acorn Feels (Tolkien), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Dis is awesome, King Fili, M/M, Protective Bilbo Baggins, ReShirement, Thorin Has Issues, fili mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDRBear/pseuds/KBBearen
Summary: Bilbo and Thorin return to the Shire after the events of the Battle of Five Armies, but when Dis makes the trip to see her dear brother, he's not nearly as happily in love as her sons heavily implied he would be.Dis has to help the boys come to their senses and start to heal.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56
Collections: Have A Happy Hobbit Holiday 2020





	Come Rest Your Weary Head

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shipsicle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsicle/gifts).



Dis’s heart clenched as she read over the first missive she had received from the Lonely Mountain. It was a formal decree, calling for any dwarves able and willing to relocate immediately to come and rebuild the glorious kingdom of Erebor. But it was signed “King Fili, son of Dis, daughter of Thrain,” and while she was proud of her oldest, she couldn’t help but fear what this meant for the rest of her family.

Fortunately, a second raven followed closely on the tailfeathers of that first, and delivered to her a letter written in her own brother’s hand. Assurances that all of the company survived, though some more wounded than others in the battle waged at the gates, Cousin Dain provided aid, the men formerly of Dale suffered greatly when the dragon was released - Dis skipped a couple lines. How Thorin could be so long winded, even in written word, still amazed her. 

Finally, towards the bottom of the letter, he revealed he had abdicated the throne to Fili, and intended to return west with the company’s burglar as soon as the spring thaw allowed. No reason was given, and it seemed to have been cut short to save enough room on the parchment for a note in Westron, a swirled unfamiliar hand. More polite than anything her brother had written, this Master Baggins bid her to contact the Thain regarding his continued survival and therefore hold on his property, and that he expected to return by the fall with a guest and a “Hamfast” should know what to do.

Dis sat back. What could make her rock-headed, duty-bound brother give up their legacy, their childhood home so soon after reclaiming it? Only one possible solution came to mind, and it was only fueled by the letter sent by her sons days later, briefly recounting their “completely safe” adventure. (Promise, Amad, barely a scratch on us! Well, Uncle got stabbed in the chest. And Fili fell off a watch tower and broke both legs. At least I didn’t soppy with fever!) But what they could agree on was that Thorin and this unlikely burglar were courting the whole trip (Only since that bit with the eagles, Ki! But he was obviously pining long before that, Fi!) and their Uncle gave him the most elaborate courting gift they’d ever seen and gave up his throne to follow him back home, where they were obviously going to get married “in the way of Hobbits” followed by many messy ink hearts courtesy of Kili. 

She’d have to drill this Thain and Hamfast on the character of one Bilbo Baggins before his return. While she was overjoyed Thorin had apparently found his One, and she trusted the judgement of Thorin as well as her two boys, she would need to make sure he was indeed worthy of her brother. And perhaps secure the property of her prospective brother-in-law herself.

-

In her trip to the Shire, Dis had tea with the Thain, gossiped with Master Baggins’ grandmother, became familiar to the Gamgees, and even chased off a rather brightly dressed hobbit from the home on the hill, before she had to return to run Ered Luin. From what she could gather, Bilbo Baggins was a well mannered, upstanding hobbit, if a bit on the boring side. 

-  
It was late fall by the time her raven returned with news. Her brother and the hobbit had finally returned! It took another week before she could leave Thorin’s Halls in the hands of what council members remained, but soon Dis was on the road to the Shire.

-

A suspicious, and frankly grumpy, face met Dis at the door, or at least peered through the small crack he had opened. “Sorry, you must have the wrong address,” he said as he went to close the door.

“Is this not the home of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin, son of Thrain?”

Sharp hazel eyes startled at Thorin’s name. “Hm, well, I am sure we are not expecting or wanting visitors today, thank you.”

“And I’m sure Thorin would make an exception for me,” Dis insisted, lodging her boot in the door jamb before the hobbit could fully shut it. “His sister. Dis, daughter of Thrain,” she added.

Master Baggins finally seemed to see her, her Durin blue eyes, her black hair, her royal bearing. “Ah, yes, he’s spoken of you. Please, come in,” Bilbo stepped back and opened the door. “As I said, we were not expecting guests, but I’ll have the kettle on and some cakes in just a moment. Please, sit in the parlor, I’ll see if he’ll come out of his room for you. Supposed to be here to rest and relax, and blast it, he hasn’t done either since we stepped foot out of that mountain.” The hobbit led her to the sitting room and continued chattering away even as he left her to get the tea and cakes.

Dis sat carefully in one of the cushioned chairs by the fireplace, her face in a thoughtful frown. This wasn’t the behavior of a happily married newly wed. Her boys had been certain the two had been smitten. Could their relationship have turned so quickly?

“Oh, how did I miss the family resemblance?” Bilbo laughed a little sadly, setting scones and a tea service at her elbow.

“Master Burglar indeed! I didn’t hear you coming!” Dis startled and her chair creaked. 

“Hm, that’s ‘retired master burglar,’ thank you very much. Go ahead and start, I still need to get Thorin up,” he replied, fixing her a cup before heading back into the maze of halls.

“Namad,” a slightly breathless voice greeted her from the doorway, his arms held up in invitation.

Dis near jumped from her chair. “Oh, Nadad!” He had more grayed hair, more scars, was more tired around the eyes, but her heart leapt with joy of actually seeing her kin alive. She rushed into his arms, grabbed him by the shoulders, reared back and-

“Stop!” the hobbit cried and both siblings stilled. “He- Please, be careful.”

Then Thorin resumed their headbutt, though much softer than Dis had expected and pulled her in for a firm hug. He chuckled, though with little mirth. “I am not so fragile as all that, Master Baggins.”

The look Master Baggins gave him as Thorin crossed the room spoke volumes. 

Thorin settled in what appeared to be his typical chair, propped up the foot he had been limping on, now that Dis had seen him cross the room, and accepted a cup of tea made by Bilbo with a quiet “thank you.” 

Bilbo started to duck out of the room with a “I’ll let you two catch up,” but Dis stopped him.

“Please, Master Baggins, Bilbo if I may, sit. We’re as good as family now, if my boys are to be believed,” Dis said, trying to gauge Thorin’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. The way he choked on his tea was telling enough. “In fact, I understand I wouldn’t even have this rock-head to catch up with if not for your courage and wit.”

“Bilbo is fine,” he affirmed, pulling up a third chair and reaching for a scone. He shook his head fondly. “And Fili and Kili. I’d like to say they most definitely exaggerated, but, well…” Oh, and that was a fond look towards Thorin. “I suppose you know the kind of attention your brother draws.”

“Ah-hem. How much did the boys tell you?” Thorin asked, clearing his throat. His eyes seemed to beg, hopeful for some certain answer, but afraid of it, too. They darted to the hobbit and back.

Dis took a long sip of tea. “Oh, a severely edited version of events, I’m sure. One more suitable for a mother’s eyes. A ‘completely safe, even boring, stroll’ they called it, yet somehow mentioned flying on eagle-back, riding barrels out of an elvish prison and over a waterfall, and you being impaled straight through the chest.” Another long sip of tea accompanied finally by one of the pastries on offer. “Oh, Bilbo, these are excellent. They also wrote at the grandeur of our old home, pieces of our history that have been seen for the first time in their lives. They even mentioned a mithril shirt being found!”

Thorin ducked into his drink. “Did they mention the dragon sickness?”

Before Dis could get a word in, Bilbo cut in. “Pish, that’s all over and done with, now tell us how the boys are doing? Couldn’t get word of them while on the road, you know. Oh! You must be so proud, your Fili has a good head and a good heart on him, I’m sure he’s doing well as king now.”

And so they spent well into the evening swapping stories, Dis hearing a slightly more mature view of the quest, though she did notice Bilbo steering the conversation around some less pleasant events her boys had told her, and Dis sharing the latest news she had heard of the restoration and in particular of the company’s antics.

It was a large yawn from Thorin that alerted Bilbo to time. “Oh, dear, how did it get that late already? Dis, did you arrange lodgings? No? You simply must stay, can’t send Thorin’s family to stay at the pub. Let me air out a guest room, and then I’ll get started on a late dinner. No, Thorin, sit sit, I’ll take care of it. Don’t think I didn’t see you grimace when you sat down. The cold’s doing no favors for your poor leg, shouldn’t be putting it under such stress walking up and down the lane all hours of the night when we’re no more than a week from snow on the ground. Sit, I’ll call you for dinner.” In the whirlwind of chatter, he managed to stoke the fire, fill Dis’s teacup, tuck a blanket around Thorin’s bad foot, and then cleared out of the room without either dwarf having gotten a word in edgewise.

“Quite the feisty one, isn’t he,” Dis chuckled after she regained her bearings.

Thorin’s eyes creased in fondness, still watching after where the hobbit had disappeared from the room. “You don’t know the half of it. I’ve seen him scold an elf-king for ‘behaving no better than a toddler’ and charge a full grown warg with nothing more than a letter opener.”

“Yes, I did hear about that. Protective of you, too.” Dis crossed the room, taking up a seat on the foot stool and pulling Thorin’s leg into her lap, feeling for injury. “Thorin, what happened? Fili and Kili were sure you two would be married by now.”

Thorin winced in pain, trying to pull from his sister’s iron grip, but unable. “Ah! Be careful, lest you want to draw the wrath of Bilbo!” Dis’s unimpressed eyeroll and continuation of palpating his knee had Thorin drawing another sharp breath. “How much did the boys tell you of the dragon sickness? I behaved dishonorably, putting the worth of a jewel above the worth of his life.”

“Thorin…”

“Dis, I nearly killed him in my madness. I would have, if not for the company’s interference. Dis…I know I would have.” Thorin’s eyes shone with horror and unshed tears.

Dis pulled Thorin forward, until their foreheads were pressed together and they breathed the same air. One hand held him close, the other gently, soothingly stroked his hair.

This gentle hold broke him. Thorin pitched forward, burying his face in her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist as though he were a dwarfling hiding from the world. “I nearly robbed you of your boys! As it is, I crumbled bridges and left them to rebuild from the rubble. I failed. I failed Father, I failed Frerin. You, the boys, my own heart! I failed our people.”

“Shh, Thorin, no,” she whispered as she continued stroking his hair. “You didn’t. You held us together during an impossible time. You gave so much to keep us together and fed and safe, Thorin.” She pulled his head up to look him in the eyes. “I know Adad would be proud. And I’m proud of you. Fili and Kili love you and still think you hung the stars in the sky for them. I just met him, and even I can see your heart still cares for you dearly.”

Finally, there was a spark of hope in his eyes.

“Nadad, you’ve carried the weight of our people admirably. Whatever else you did, you gave Fili a secure seat to build from, more than you had at his age. But it’s time for you to rest. You clearly have much you need to work out and it may take some time, but your hobbit let you follow him halfway across the world to come to live with him. I’m sure he’ll give you another chance, but only if you give yourself a chance at happiness.”

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and Bilbo was out of the room in a flash. But Dis couldn’t move with her brother still in an emotional state, so she put it out of her mind for now, but vowed to have a word with the hobbit soon.

No sooner than Thorin had regained his composure, Bilbo called the siblings for dinner. Thorin remained quiet during the meal, and Bilbo certainly noticed this, but kept up the conversation with Dis as though nothing unusual had happened.

When Bilbo excused himself to wash the dishes, Dis invited herself along, despite his best protests.

“How much of our conversation did you hear?” she asked as she was up to her elbows in soapy water.

“Enough.”

“Master Baggins. Bilbo, I’m sure you know my brother has not had an easy life. He was still a dwarfling when our grandfather fell and he had to pick up the mantle of kingship of a broken and displaced people. He sweat and bled to keep our people fed. If he ever dreamt of settling down with a spouse and a quiet life, he must have been forced to forget it long ago. But it is what he deserves. He is a good dwarf. I know he hurt you under his illness, and I don’t expect you to forgive him so swiftly, but the way you look at him, I know you still have tenderness in your heart. Please. If he has a chance at earning your love again, please let him know to try.”

“Dis. Dis, slow down.” Bilbo took the excessively scrubbed plate from her. “I know. I mean, I understand. I can’t begin to know all Thorin has gone through. And I don’t blame him for what happened during his sickness. I truly forgave him then, and I love him still.” Bilbo took a deep breath. “I’m willing to work on our relationship, but I need him to try, too.”

Dis clasped his hand. “Then tell him. He thinks your love lost to him.”

“I will. I will.”

-

Bilbo was up before the sun the next morning. He retrieved his trowel and watering can before knocking on Thorin’s door.

A disheveled dwarf answered, but at least his eyes were clear. “Master Baggins? What has you up so early?”

“Just Bilbo, please. And remember what you told me, when I thought...when I thought I had...lost you?” Bilbo’s voice broke briefly, but he hadn’t lost him, Thorin was alive and in his home. He held out his hand, an acorn resting in his palm. “I thought we could plant it, and watch it grow...together.”

The smile that lit Thorin’s face was brighter than the sun could ever be. “And the world will be a merrier place for it.” 

-

Their acorn secure in the ground for winter, hobbit and dwarf stood hand-in-hand looking out over a sleepy Hobbiton, a hope for new growth in their hearts.


End file.
